March 6, 2013

Two Hot Topics on Equality

Women in combat

There’s widespread support among American voters for women serving in combat roles. And just over half still favor lifting the ban on women in combat -- even if the policy would require any future drafts include women. Voters favor the new military role for women by a decisive 71-26 percent margin, according to a new Fox News poll. If women and men would then be equally eligible if lawmakers brought back the draft, a 51-percent majority supports the women-in-combat policy. Opposition increases to 45 percent if this is the case.Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced the military is “eliminating the direct ground combat exclusion rule for women” on January 24.In general, majorities of women (73 percent), men (68 percent), Democrats (81 percent), independents (68 percent) and Republicans (61 percent) favor opening combat roles to women when the issue has no qualifiers attached. One of the largest gaps in support is between age groups: voters under age 30 (81 percent) are much more likely than those ages 65 and over (58 percent) to endorse the idea. Veterans and those currently in the military (54 percent) are much less likely than those who haven’t been in the military (73 percent) to favor allowing women in combat.Support for combat roles drops by 25 percentage points among women (to 48 percent) and 12 points among men (to 56 percent) when the draft qualifier is added.Source Fox News

Boy Scouts ban of gay members and leaders

The Boy Scouts of America are debating whether to lift a national ban of gay members and leaders. Among politicians, both President Obama and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have been part of the debate: “My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life,” said Obama. Perry said in a speech Saturday that “to have popular culture impact 100 years of their standards is inappropriate.”

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